SRQuality Kitchen and Baths opens in Lakewood Ranch

It's like Star Wars meets kitchens and baths.

Filipe Piumbini sat at his desk in the newly opened SRQuality Kitchens and Baths in Lakewood Ranch's San Marco Plaza of Lakewood Ranch, and fired up his computer.

He then presented a three-dimensional graphic of what a kitchen design might be. Like an expert pilot, he navigated all the sharp corners and slopes with considerable ease.

So when customers ... whether a builder planning a host of new homes or an individual owner doing a remodel or building a custom home ... come into his new shop, he can show them an unlimited number of products and designs without leaving the building.

"I can show them every aspect of the kitchen before anyone swings a hammer," said Piumbini, who moved his office to Lakewood Ranch from Port Charlotte. "They are going to know what the final product will look like. I love it."

It didn't used to be so easy when Piumbini, a native of Brazil, entered the granite manufacturing business in 2006 or when he purchased Signature Kitchens and Baths in 2008.

"People didn't used to be as savvy about spending their money," Piumbini said. "People are more knowledgable now. They have the Internet."

And Piumbini has the software.

"Before, the kitchen designer picked everything," he said. "I'm not a designer as much as a space planner. Basically using technology now, we can do all the legwork for (the customer). They're making all the decisions."

He said SRQuality Kitchens and Baths is a business that provides design and decorating services with hands-on service from concept to completion. Piumbini said he evaluates a person's lifestyle needs when designing.

Piumbini said his customers also will benefit because he comes from a manufacturing background. "We understand deadlines, specification and modern computer-controlled equipment," he said. "We've produced more than 6,500 kitchen projects from 2006 to 2015 and we know about customer needs and expectations."

Piumbini, an east county resident, made the decision to move to Lakewood Ranch because of its tremendous growth along with the similar growth in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

"This is a better area to live and work," he said. "You have to love the growth potential and everything here is slightly above."

Just before his July 1 open house and the July 4 official opening, Piumbini was busy with his partner, Amy Bott, filling the shop with products such as sinks and faucets. Those walking past already were checking out the new business.

"We are starting to get clients already," Piumbini said. "We will do fine as long as clients know we are here."

To that end, Piumbini invited more than 300 builders to his open house. That kind of crowd keeps Bott jumping.

"I do everything he doesn't do," Bott said of Piumbini. "I manage the logistics, customer relations and public relations," she said.

When Bott isn't taking care of her duties as vice president of the company, she is a teacher at North Port High School.